Academic Writing

Key Points Academic writing often avoids vague or informal phrases like "a lot of" or "lots of" . Using precise, formal expressions (e.g. numerous, a significant number of, several) makes your writing clearer and more professional. Varying your vocabulary also makes your writing more engaging and avoids repetition.

Why do you need to include evidence?

In academic writing, clarity and precision are essential. Words like "plenty of" or "lots of" are too informal and do not show the exact scale of your evidence. By choosing more formal expressions such as "several researchers" or "a small percentage of participants", you strengthen your academic tone. This also helps the reader to better understand how much evidence supports your arguments. 

What does it look like?

*Supporting claims with in-text references 

When using phrases like “Numerous studies…” or "Several studies", it is important to include in-text references. This lets the reader know which research you are referring to and strengthens the credibility of your writing. One way to include in-text references is to list the studies at the end of the sentence in brackets, separating the studies with semicolons (Example 1).  Alternatively, you can refer to specific studies in follow-up sentences using linking words to give the reader concrete examples of how the research supports your argument (Example 2).  

Example 1: Multiple references in the same sentence
Numerous studies have shown that regular physical activity improves cognitive function in older adults (Smith, 2020; Lee & Chan, 2019; Thompson et al., 2021).

Example 2: Reference in the following sentence
Numerous studies have shown that regular physical activity improves cognitive function in older adults. For example, Smith (2020) found that participants who engaged in daily walking showed significant improvements in memory and attention.